blog and pony nov 2008
DESCRIPTION
Blogs and RSS presentation for ECLS Coralville, IA Nov 2008TRANSCRIPT
Your Blog and Pony Show:
Using Blogs and RSS to Tell Your Library Story
Presented byLouise Alcorn
Reference Technology LibrarianWest Des Moines (Iowa) Public Library
For the East Central Library Service AreaNovember 21, 2008
Your Blog and Pony Show What’s a blog? Why would a library want one? What can a library do with a blog? What’s RSS? How can we ‘feed’ our library information
to patrons via RSS? How can we use blogs and RSS to keep our
main website’s content fresh?
Blogs – What You May Have Heard blog (web log or weblog) blogger blogging blogosphere
More “Bloggish” Words
podcast (audio) Podcasting - a method of distributing
multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet
vlog (video) – see some of these on blip.tv moblog (mobile) Blogroll (list of blogs) Biblioblogosphere
What is a blog? From Wikipedia.org (1/28/07):
A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), [a portfolio of sketches] (sketchblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.
The term "blog" is derived from "Web log." "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
As of November 2006, blog search engine Technorati was tracking nearly 60 million blogs
What is a blog?A user-generated website with: Posts – text, links, images, audio, video Organized chronologically by date (new @ top) Unique URL’s for posts (permalinks) Comments – very important aspect of blogs Self-archives by date (automated) Searchable (usually) Conversational style May limit authorship or readership to certain
individuals or groups Provides an “RSS feed” that “syndicates” the
content for readers – it comes to me!
Some Librarian Blog Examples
Librarian.net (Jessamyn West) http://Librarian.net
Tame the Web (Michael Stephens) http://www.tametheweb.com
The Shifted Librarian (Jenny Levine) http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com Includes lots of info on library gaming
List of Librarian Blogs at LISWiki http://liswiki.org/wiki/Weblogs
Some Library Institutional Blogs Waterloo (IA) Public Library Reference News -
http://wpl-reference.blogspot.com/ Info from the Reference Dept.
Cuyahoga County (OH) Public Library - http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/StdBackPage.aspx?id=86 Links to 20 subject areas, each with its own blog!
Iowa City (IA) Public Library Teen Blog - http://teens.icpl.org/
Birmingham (AL) Public Library - http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/
Birmingham PL Blog
http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/
Waterloo PL Reference Blog
http://wpl-reference.blogspot.com/
More Library Blogs
Ann Arbor (Michigan) District Library – http://aadl.org Their entire site is blogs!
Find a list of library blogs at BlogWithoutALibrary.net Blogging Libraries Wiki:
http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blogging_Libraries_Wiki
Public, Academic, School, Special
Ann Arbor (Michigan) District Library – http://aadl.org Their entire site is blogs!
Find a list of library blogs at BlogWithoutALibrary.net Blogging Libraries Wiki:
http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blogging_Libraries_Wiki
Public, Academic, School, Special
Why Have a Library Blog?
Helps tell your “library story” – humanizes and personalizes your library
An efficient means to empower staff to communicate with the public (and each other – think about a staff blog!)
Adds freshness to your website Link to separate blog site (Birmingham), or Embed blog in your website (aadl.org)
Why Have a Library Blog? (cont.)
Creates a library “community” online in a way no static website can.
Increases information literacy by keeping your patrons (and staff) current on library events, resources and more
Communicate with your patrons their way – aka “60 million blogs can’t be (all) wrong!”
Other Uses for Blogs Community Information – Create a
clearinghouse for community information. Fresh and useful!
Other Uses for Blogs Community Information – Create a
clearinghouse for community information. Fresh and useful!
Reader’s Advisory – book review and discussion blogs. From staff to patron, patron to patron, etc.
Hennepin County (MN) BookSpace
http://www.hclib.org/pub/bookspace/
Other Uses for Blogs Community Information – Create a
clearinghouse for community information. Fresh and useful!
Reader’s Advisory – book review and discussion blogs. From staff to patron, patron to patron, etc.
Staff Communication – create a staff blog!
She Said/He Said – Kankakee (IL) PL
http://lions-online-shesaidhesaid.blogspot.com/
Other Uses for Blogs Community Information – Create a
clearinghouse for community information. Fresh and useful!
Reader’s Advisory – book review and discussion blogs. From staff to patron, patron to patron, etc.
Staff Communication – create a staff blog! Speak directly to and with teens using a
library teen blog – events, book club, etc.
Iowa City Teens Blog
http://teens.icpl.org/
Library Staff Blog Examples
Newman Library at Baruch College – NYChttp://referencenewman.blogspot.com/ (excellent example of collaborative staff blog – uses
blogger.com – clean, useful design)
Kankakee Public Library “Library Musings”http://kpllibrarymusings.blogspot.com/ (this is open to the public, but is written by all
library staff – not the director!)
Library Musings – Kankakee (IL) PL
http://kpllibrarymusings.blogspot.com/
Creating a BlogPopular Software & Services
MovableType (Perl/MySQL) http://www.movabletype.org/
WordPress (PHP/MySQL) http://wordpress.org/
Typepad (blog software for a fee) http://www.typepad.com
Blogger (free Web service) ** http://www.blogger.com/
Blogger.com
Start a Blog – As Easy As:
1) Create a Blogger Account
2) Name Your Blog
3) Choose a Template for your blog
4) Start Posting!
Create an Account
Name Your Blog
Choose a Template
Start Posting
Blogger.com Options Create more than one blog – manage them all
from one “dashboard” Show/Hide Comments – your choice Restrict authors to invited participants only Restrict readers to invited participants only, or
solely to authors (staff blog) Change elements within template to create your
own “look and feel” Add images, video, sound Republish your blog embedded into your website
–keep your website fresh!
Searching for Blogs to Read
Other Ways to Find Blogs Word of Mouth Your favorite sites – look for their blog
Amazon.com Daily http://www.amazon.com/gp/daily/ Amazon.com Author Blogs
http://www.amazon.com/gp/daily/subscriptions?ie=UTF8&view=artistBlogs
Google Librarian Central http://librariancentral.blogspot.com/
Powell’s Books Blog http://www.powells.com/blog/ The handout I sent you From other blogs (Blogroll – list at side of blog)
Any Questions?
Blog Statistics – From Jenny Levine’s Presentation on “Blogs, RSS and Wikis in Way Too Short a Time” (2006)
Signs That You’ve Become Addicted to Reading Blogs You’re spending all your time linking to all
these crazy websites and reading blogs. Your mouse hand hurts from clicking. You’ve started your own blog to join in the
fun. You keep seeing these funny little orange
symbols and you wonder if it’s a secret code only bloggers know…
RSS – Telling Your Story
Questions about RSS Ever wonder if there’s an easier way to read your
favorite blogs than all that clicking? Ever wonder what those crazy orange symbols on
the sides of blogs mean?
(Note: Movement to use a single standard icon is afoot at www.feedicons.com )
What is RSS?RSS is:
rather hard to describe in text, easier to show stands for:
Rich Site Summary RDF Site Summary Really Simple Syndication
a form of XML (web markup language) used for syndicating news items on the Internet. It’s for machines to read, not for people.
what allows RSS aggregators to read your blogs for you and then serve them up to you.
How Does RSS Work?
The Quick and Dirty Version:The information provider (blogger, news source) creates a file
which is translated, usually automatically by their blog software, into an RSS file.
The file is uploaded to a Web serverUsers subscribe to the file via an aggregator or feed reader.
They may type the URL directly into their aggregator, copy and paste it, or they may click one of those orange icons to subscribe:
The aggregator periodically checks the file for updated content.When the author updates the RSS file (blog post), the user is
automatically notified of the new items (via the aggregator) and may read them at their leisure.
What Does RSS Look Like?
Some RSS Feeds Librarian’s Index to the Internet – lii.org Librarian.net Flickr.com LISNews.org Unshelved – Library Web Comic –
http://www.unshelved.com/rss.aspx Google News – also its own news aggregator News: CNN, BBC, NYTimes, Toronto Star EBSCOHost - Top Stories, Newsletters, Podcasts
Benefits of RSS Can be corralled into an Aggregator for
easier viewing and fewer clicks. Information is served to the ‘customer’ in
a single location. They rarely need to go to the original website unless the author sends them there, or to view special content.
Information is received in a timely manner – basically when it’s posted.
So What Can You Do With RSS? Keep yourself current on library topics,
news, hobby blogs, etc. via an Aggregator. Create an RSS Feed of your library blog – speak
directly to your patrons. Blog software does this for you automatically.
Feed info to your staff via a staff blog – they can be sent all of it, or can subscribe to individual ‘categories’ (reference, children’s, YA, etc.) of information.
“Republish” feeds on your library website – help keep your website content fresh
RSS Aggregators
Or, How to Save Valuable Blog-Reading Time!
What is an Aggregator? Not an amphibious reptile with large teeth,
native to the Florida Everglades. From Wikipedia: “An aggregator or news
aggregator or feed reader is client software that uses a web feed to retrieve syndicated web content such as weblogs, podcasts, vlogs, and mainstream mass media websites, or in the case of a search aggregator, a customized set of search results.”
Also known as a Feed Reader
Why Use an Aggregator?
All your content (blog posts, news feeds) comes to one location, rather than you having to remember to go find it.
It checks for updates automatically. Displays only new items for you. In some cases you can use it to search for
additional feeds on similar subjects.
From Jenny Levine
Types of Aggregators Client
FeedReader Server-based
Feed on Feeds Add-on
Puck for IE6 Built-in
IE7 & Firefox 2.x
IE7’s RSS Aggregator
Right-click a specific feed to view its Properties (at right).
Types of Aggregators Client
FeedReader Server-based
Feed on Feeds Add-on
Puck for IE6 Built-in
IE7 & Firefox 2.x Web-based service**
Bloglines.com
Using Bloglines.com – As Easy As:
1) Create a Bloglines Account
2) Verify Account via email
3) Find RSS Feeds to Read
4) Subscribe to Feeds
5) Check Bloglines.com every day (hour?) for new posts
Create an Account
Verify Account via email
Find RSS Feeds to Read
Subscribe to Feeds
Another Add Option – The Subscribe Button
Reading Your Bloglines Feeds
Bloglines Tutorials
Bloglines for Librarians in Three (and a half) Easy Steps http://joy.mollprojects.com/myprojects/rss/quickrss.html
LawLibTech: RSS Tutorial Using Bloglines - http://lawlibtech.com/archives/000324.html
WisBlawg - http://wisblawg.blogspot.com/2004/09/tutorial-on-reading-blogs-with.html (links to PowerPoint)
Any Questions?
What was that you said about
“republishing” feeds on our website to
keep it fresh?
Republishing RSS Feeds
Use RSS to republish feeds on your library website – keep your content fresh with little effort!
Portions of the following slides were taken with permission from Karen Burns’ “Feed It: Adding iRead RSS Feeds to Your Website” presentation for Southwest Iowa Library Service Area. http://www.swilsa.lib.ia.us/tutorials/ireadRSS/player.html
How it works
BlogRSS Feed
Webpage
Republishing – As Easy As: Choose the blogs’ feeds to put on your site
Select the “look” of the feed display
Generate the javascript to plug into your website – done automatically by feed republishing utility.
Copy the javascript and paste into webpage
Feed Republishing UtilitiesFeed2JS Grazr
Grazr Republishing Demo
Find the feed you want to republish. Look for the RSS logos or a “Subscribe” link.
Apply a Theme
Embed (Copy/Paste) the Script
in Your Website
Voila!
Multiple Feeds: Grazr
Republishing Example
What Have We Learned Today? Blogs are a great communication tool. Blogs are addictive! Use an aggregator to
save yourself time. You (and your library) can blog. Easily.
Give it a try! RSS is how blogs are able to come to you,
instead of you going to them. You can embed RSS feeds in your website
to keep it fresh and current, with little effort!
Go Forth and Be Bloggy!
Louise [email protected] Des Moines Public LibraryWest Des Moines, Iowa515-222-3573Feel free to contact me!